Published 4:00 am, Saturday, February 11, 2006

Photo: Michael Macor

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facetime8-21_023_mac.jpg Randy Ward is the State Administrator for the Oakland Unified School District. His job is to put himself out of a job. We talk to him about his Jesuit education in Boston and how that prepared him for war in the public schools of Oakland. 7/14/05 Oakland, Ca Michael Macor / San Francisco Chronicle Ran on: 08-21-2005 Mandatory Credit for Photographer and San Francisco Chronicle/ - Magazine Out less

facetime8-21_023_mac.jpg Randy Ward is the State Administrator for the Oakland Unified School District. His job is to put himself out of a job. We talk to him about his Jesuit education in Boston and how that ... more

The Oakland school district has taken the steps necessary to keep operating in the event of a teacher strike, officials said Friday, nearly two weeks after contract negotiations stalled.

Randy Ward, who was appointed by the state to lead the bankrupt district in 2003, stood on the front steps of the district office to encourage parents to send their children to school if a strike occurs.

"We expect that we will be able to maintain the classroom sizes and the teacher ratio," Ward said. "The district is prepared for the disruption of a strike."

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For nearly a month, the district has been recruiting teachers willing to cross picket lines if the Oakland Education Association's 3,100 teachers, nurses, librarians and other professionals walk out.

Both union and district officials said they remain optimistic that a strike will not happen, but both sides are demanding concessions from the other before returning to negotiations. The two sides have not formally met since Jan. 31.

The district proposed to restore, over two years, a 4 percent pay cut that teachers agreed to in 2003. The union is demanding what amounts to a 3 percent raise, in addition to the pay restoration.

The district, which currently covers the full cost of teachers' health care premiums, wants to cap its contribution to health care at the current premium rates. However, the district would use funds from a parcel tax to keep health care free for teachers for the next two years.

Union officials, buoyed by a neutral fact-finders' report released earlier this month, are proposing that teachers contribute 0.5 percent of their salaries to premiums.

The report said the district has the funds and resources to meet several of the union's demands. Ward has replied that the report is "just plain wrong" about the district's financial state. Audits have shown that the district, which received a $100 million loan from the state in 2003, continues to operate with a deficit.

Union leaders argue that the district is not contributing 55 percent of its budget to teachers' salaries, the minimum required by state law. They say that increasing the average teacher salary, currently $53,000 and among the lowest in the Bay Area, is critical to stabilizing the district's teaching force. According to the fact-finders' report, the district loses nearly one-third of its teachers each year.

District officials say that number is inflated because it includes substitutes and probationary teachers; they believe the number is closer to 10 percent.